I Want Finasteride to Maintain Minoxidil Growth!

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

Hello,

I just started taking finasteride for two months now and I am thinking of adding minoxidil to my regime. After 12 months I plan just to maintain taking finasteride. If the minoxidil added extra hair growth will I loss that hair if I discontinue minoxidil but remain on finasteride?

Thank you

Yes, unfortunately any benefits (hair growth) you saw from minoxidil will disappear if you stop using it. Finasteride (Propecia) won’t maintain hair grown from minoxidil… and vice versa. Some patients elect to use both medications, but they’re lifelong commitments.

Tags: minoxidil, finasteride, rogaine, propecia, hairloss, hair loss

Any Shampoo Ingredients I Should Avoid?

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

I am well-aware, as an avid reader of your blog, that there is no shampoo that will help to treat hair loss. This question is different. Are there any shampoos, or ingredients within shampoos, that you would recommend against. In other words, is there a particular ingredient that may cause damage to hair, or increase hair loss in some fashion? Thanks very much for your time and wonderful site.

ShampooI do not know of any shampoos to actively avoid. Over the years, I’ve read unverified reports from readers that suggest Head and Shoulders causes their hair to fall out, but if that were the case I’d expect there would be warnings and news items all over the place about it. It’s a very popular shampoo, but there’s a very active comments section at this old post.

I’ve also received emails from readers over the years asking about hair loss from sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) found in many shampoos, but I’ve pointed out before that it seems to be propaganda used by some companies just to sell SLS-free shampoo.

I don’t think there’s anything in commercial shampoos found on store shelves that will cause you problems, unless perhaps you’re allergic to something. I generally recommend that everyone try different shampoos and use the one that they like the most. I don’t have any particular shampoo preference over another.

Tags: shampoo, hairloss, hair loss

Still Shedding a Ton of Hair 5 Months After Starting Propecia

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

Hi,
I’m a 22 year old male and I have noticed my hairline receding and thinning out for about 2 years now. About a year ago I started using 5% rogaine on my temples and vertex and it seemed to slow down my receding hairline and I experienced some regrowth on the vertex but they were very thin hairs.

On April 20th, 2010 I was prescribed propecia and have been on it ever since (about 3 months into treatment I was running low on $ and pills so I took a pill about every other day for 1 1/2 week, but have been taking propecia religiously ever since), I also stopped taking applying rogaine the same day.

I am writing because today marks month 5 and I am still consistently shedding 200+ hairs a day. I wake up with hairs all over my pillow. I wash my hair with shampoo/conditioner and my hands are covered in hair. I dry my hair after the shower and hair is on the towel. I’m at the point to where I don’t know what to do. I would currently classify myself as a norwood III, with thinning on my vertex and I have a weird thin patch that shows scalp at the midpoint on top of my head.

From reading this site and others, I know that shedding like this in month 5 is not normal. I know there is not much you can say w/o pictures but I was curious as to your opinion, or if you have seen any cases like this.

Thank you

PropeciaPerhaps you’re not a good responder to Propecia. I don’t know what you’re seeing, so it’s difficult to offer much about that. You’re right about severe thinning not being normal 5 months after starting the medication. You should follow up with your prescribing doctor about it.

One thing I am sure of, Propecia doesn’t keep any growth you saw from the Rogaine, so you’re likely seeing the Rogaine-grown hair fall out since you stopped using it. You might consider getting back on Rogaine if that worked for you in the past.

In general though, you need to understand that there is no cure for hair loss and that even medications such as Propecia or Rogaine have limitations.

Tags: propecia, finasteride, rogaine, minoxidil, hairloss, hair loss

Scalp Pain at the Hair Root

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

I am 28 years old. i started losing hair at the age of 22. 2 years before that on the top of my head red spots appeared and a diffuse pain in the roots of my hair(only on the upper area of the head). the quality of the hair on the top of my head changed noticeably. i went to a doctor, and he said it was the beginning of MPB. The pain is still here after 6 years. i tried a lot of different strategies to make it stop. the funny thing is that i still have my hair but the pain in the roots it’s still here too. when i scratch my head with my fingers the pain stops for some hours.

is it any possibility for this strange thing to happening due to bad blood circulation? Plus the skin on the top of my skull has become much harder. thanks in advance.

I do not know the source of your pain, but it does not seem related to the hair itself as you reported not losing any hair over the 6 years since being told you had early MPB. It may be a skin, scalp, or nerve problem.

There’s a large list of diseases that have scalp pain as a symptom, so I would get a second opinion from a doctor (perhaps a neurologist) that can examine your scalp to hopefully determine a cause.

Tags: scalp pain, hair root

Hot Cap — The Hot Tub for Your Scalp

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

Hot CapHey doctors!

Here’s a pretty funny looking invention that claims to prevent hair loss by putting hot water on your head. I know you’re both inventors and wanted to get your thoughts on this one.

Link: A Hot Tub On Your Head

I always like to see new inventions, and the more absurd, the better. I quite enjoyed seeing the Hot Cap, but it is better for general entertainment than for your hair. Removing sebum doesn’t prevent genetic hair loss, but this is creative nonetheless.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, hot cap, invention

I Changed My Finasteride Dose Based On Your Blog!

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

I read a post on your website that said 0.5 mg of finasteride is %80 as effective as 1 mg. I decided to try it. I wanted to see if I could get the same results with less medicine in my body…and possibly save a ton of money.

It didn’t work. I did it for about 7 weeks and lost ground in the front. I actually used .625 because it was a Proscar pill. I was on 1mg for 6 months doing wonderfully before that so I’m hoping now that I’ve gone back up to 1mg I’ll grow back what I lost since it was only 7 weeks.

Terrible advice!!!

It wasn’t advice! Nowhere in that post you’re referencing did I tell you (or anyone) to change the dosing of your prescription medication. The tidbit about “.5mg is 80% as effective” is something I read about, and not something I ever instructed anyone to try without talking to your doctor first. Changing the dose of finasteride is something you and your doctor need to discuss. I am not your doctor.

When I see a patient where I recommend a lower dose of finasteride, it us almost always because of side effects. I always give the warning that although it may work, it will be less effective than the therapeutic dose of 1mg. Just because I write about what we do for our patients under given circumstances, that does not imply that we are recommending a particular treatment to you personally. If you did it on your own and something goes wrong, don’t point the finger at us.

Tags: finasteride, propecia, hairloss, hair loss

QR678

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /

Hello Doctor,

I find the article on the invention of new molecule QR 678 for stimulating hair growth in one of India’s top newspapers. Here is the link to access the website of the clinic.

Please let me know your view on this. Best regards

IndiaThere must’ve been quite the media blitz about QR678 in India, because I got a bunch of emails from people in that region asking about this.

First, I don’t like to depend upon a single set of tiny photographs with different lighting to determine hair growth… and that’s what I see in the article. A proper study would have been “blind” so that a placebo group is compared with a treatment growth in a statistically valid protocol. That’s not what this article points to, so I would be reluctant to believe anything that is not done the way I know proper research needs to be done and validated.

In digging a little deeper, one of the creators of QR678 says that there was a double-blind study done and he even summarizes the results on his blog, but as of writing this post, I’ve not seen the actual study nor has it been published in a peer-reviewed journal where it can be evaluated for legitimacy by qualified professionals. Thus, I’m forced to look at QR678 on its own merits and treat it like any other hair loss treatment that I’m asked about.

So many companies and doctors are trying to be among the first to offer a new stem cell treatment (because “stem cells” are great buzzwords right now) and from what I am understanding, that’s what this seems to be. It seems that this is something (stem cells?) injected into the scalp 8 times followed by a lotion rubbed on the scalp. As any regular reader of this blog knows already, I’m a skeptic about the majority of new hair loss treatments announced, and this case is no exception. The evidence is severely lacking that QR678 does what it claims, and so far, I’ve yet to see the proof beyond high praise from the creators of the product itself.

Tags: qr678, qr 678, hairloss, hair loss, stem cells

Of Those Patients Taking Avodart, How Often Do They Take It?

/by William Rassman, M.D./3 /

Hi dr,
I know you cannot endorse using Avodart, but I wonder if you can answer this question….

I’ve been using Avodart for several years along with Propecia. I take Avodart once a week because of the long half life. I’m curious to know since you probably hear from many people using Avodart, how often do they take it? I’m mostly curious about the ones who report seeing good results with it.

thanks

AvodartNo one really knows how to take Avodart (dutasteride) for treating hair loss, but most doctors (for reasons I do not understand) recommend daily doses. The long half life is reason enough to take it less often than daily, but I am not an expert on it and the proper dose hasn’t been published yet. I must remind the casual readers that I’m not suggesting anyone should take Avodart to treat their hair loss at this point as it is not FDA approved for such use.

Off the top of my head, I know of one other patient that reported taking Avodart just once a week with good results, but the emails I get from patients that take Avodart don’t usually say how often they take it. For those that do take Avodart, feel free to post your dosing in the comments.

Tags: dutasteride, avodart, hairloss, hair loss, dosing

Receding Hairline from Hormone Imbalance or Thyroid Problem?

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /,

Hello,
Can a hormone imbalance or a thyroid problem cause hair loss in the form of a severe receding hairline or would hair loss from a thyroid condition or a hormone imbalance cause loss throughout the scalp.

thank you

Low thyroid levels can cause hair thinning and brittle, dry hair (plus other non-hair-related symptoms), but it does not necessarily cause a receding hairline. Receding hairlines are mainly a genetic presentation of androgenic alopecia seen in men.

Hormone imbalance in itself does not necessarily cause hair loss… and there are hundreds of hormones to pick from!

Tags: hormone imbalance, thyroid, hairloss, hair loss, hormones

In the News – Bald Chimp Has Many Fans

/by William Rassman, M.D./2 /

Snippet from the story:

Bald chimpJambo baldly goes where few chimps in a Brit zoo have gone before – after losing all his hair.

The 28-year-old suffers from the hair-loss disease alopecia.

Read the rest at The Sun UK

I’ve been reading about this bald chimpanzee for many years, so I’m glad to read that he’s still alive and popular with zoo visitors.

I found an article from 1997 about the same chimp that said he was regrowing his hair due because of a “secret cream made from goat’s milk and hedgerow plants” … but obviously that isn’t the case. I wish secret creams worked as well as advertised.

Tags: jambo, chimp, chimpanzee, monkey, ape, hairloss, hair loss, alopecia